Seasons Greetings!

This issue brings you several interesting developments in the area of the Supply Chain (SC). The papers published here offer theoretical and practical insights that hold immense value to the practice and research of SCM. The first paper titled, “Retail Analytics Using SAS: Experience of Fresh Greens Pvt. Ltd., Bangalore”, by Shailendra Dasari and Anil S Kurhekar, provides insights into the relevance and efficacy of analytics for retail industry in India. The paper also deals with a live study undertaken at Fresh Greens Bangalore, where Market Basket Analysis (MBA) and advanced demand forecasting techniques have been used for understanding the demand associations of different fruits and vegetables and fine-tuning their operations. Based on the findings of this study, certain conclusions not only specific to Fresh Greens, but generally applicable to fruits and vegetable retailers in India have been drawn and suggestions have been provided for enhancing the operational efficiency and effectiveness of the overall industry.

The second paper, “Supply Chain: A Differentiator in Marketing Fresh Produce”, by Veena A, K Nagendra Babu and H R Venkatesha, brings out the fact that the fresh produce market has immense influence on the socioeconomic and political conditions. The existing SC mechanisms in India are not effective. Close to 30% of the fruits and vegetables grown are wasted. All the stakeholders have to join hands to improve the SC mechanism to transfer the produce from the farmers to the consumers. This would not only improve the economic and social status of consumers, but also facilitates the consumers in getting quality produce at economical rates. This improved SC infrastructure benefits all the stakeholders and middlemen. In a country like India, where a majority of the population still lives in rural areas, the benefits of improved SC would have implications on a good number of people. Government and private operators have to join hands to improve the physical infrastructure, information sharing, and the service required for quality improvement of the SC. India has the potential not only to cater to the domestic demand, but also to the major global requirement.

The third paper, “Development of Optimal Pricing Strategy for Perishable Products”, by Srikanta Routroy and Dilpreet Singh, presents a generic model for one stage of perishable SC in a dynamic pricing environment, for developing a pricing strategy in order to maximize profit. Genetic algorithm toolbox in MATLAB 7.8 was used to solve the problem.

The fourth paper, “Logistics Chain Re-Engineering of a PSU Company Using Dynamic Modeling: A Case Study”, by Vivek V K, Pradeep Kumar and Dinesh Kumar, presents the re-engineering effort on the outbound logistics chain of a public sector undertaking in India using the dynamic modeling. A valid dynamic model of the outbound logistics chain is developed and analyzed to identify the possible areas of improvement. Alternative configurations taking advantage of these opportunities are developed. The performance of the present and alternative configurations is computed using a performance indicator incorporating cost and service level. Further, the impact of unexpected step and impulse rise in demand on the performance of the alternative configurations were evaluated. The alternative configurations resulted in a significantly better performance compared to the present configuration resulting in reduced inventory and cost. It will make a good reading for both the academicians and practitioners.

The fifth paper, “Suppliers to Dealers: Stakeholders’ Management at TVS Motor Company Ltd.”, by Shashank Shah and A Sudhir Bhaskar, signifies the importance of supplier-dealer management and their role in the overall business. The authors have used the case study of a two-wheeler automobile industry leader like TVS Motor Company Ltd., and attempted to describe their supplier- and dealer-focussed initiatives. The data was collected through personal interviews with top executives of the company and supplemented with other information available in the public domain. The ‘collaborative approach’ as highlighted by the authors in their study reflects the philosophy of the company towards its suppliers and dealers, some of whom have been working with the company since its inception in 1979. Some of the company practices related to suppliers and dealers are worthy of emulation by other corporate organizations.

The last paper, “Supply Chain Risk Identification and Elimination: A Theoretical Perspective”, by Santanu Mandal, reviews the published approaches to SC risk identification, classification and elimination, in relation to performance. This review includes many past and present studies and is a source of useful references for those examining SC risk. This review suggests to the academicians to work further in identifying specific risks and ways of managing the same in the context of a specific industry. For managers, it provides knowledge of the types of risks that may be present in their supply chains, and presents a variety of strategies for identifying and managing the same.

We hope that the readers will gain several new insights and directions for further research in stimulating and exciting area of SC. We promise to keep publishing high-quality, empirical as well as conceptual research work.

-- Sunil Bhardwaj
Consulting Editor